The 10 Virgins...Who Are They?

Matthew 25

1`Then shall the reign of the heavens be likened to <strong>ten virgins</strong>, who, having taken their lamps, went forth to meet the bridegroom;

2 and five of them were prudent, and five foolish;

3 they who were foolish having taken their lamps, did not take with themselves oil;

4 and the prudent took oil in their vessels, with their lamps.

5`And the bridegroom tarrying, they all nodded and were sleeping,

6and in the middle of the night a cry was made, Lo, the bridegroom doth come; go ye forth to meet him.

7`Then rose all those virgins, and trimmed their lamps,

8 and the foolish said to the prudent, Give us of your oil, because our lamps are going out;

9 and the prudent answered, saying -- Lest there may not be sufficient for us and you, go ye rather unto those selling, and buy for yourselves.

10`And while they are going away to buy, the bridegroom came, and those ready went in with him to the marriage-feasts, and the door was shut;

11 and afterwards come also do the rest of the virgins, saying, Sir, sir, open to us;

12 and he answering said, Verily I say to you, I have not known you.

In verse 12, it is clear that the bridegroom NEVER knew the 5 unwise virgins. If Gods Word can not lie and does not match what our human understanding of our dreams and visions are, then we need to readjust our evaluation of its meaning.

Seems to me that the 10 VIRGINS in Mt 25 do not represent the Bride of Christ. The KEY to understanding the symbols in this PARABLE is to understand the meaning of the LAMPS that each of the virgins have.

Most people want to center in only on the symbol of the oil as representing the Holy Spirit and not look at what the lamps represent.

Oil lamps give off light when lite. In this parable 5 virgins had the MEANS for light and 5 did not.

The "light of the World" is Jesus and the Gospel of Good News He represents. The 5 wise virgins had received that LIGHT already, but the 5 unwise NEVER had received it, that is why the parable ends with the statement that the bridegroom NEVER knew the 5 unwise virgins.

Oh, one more thing, Jesus never calls His bride foolish. He calls us friends.

No light...Darkness   LIGHT....NO darkness

The WORD is a lamp unto my feet and a LIGHT unto my path. Blessed by the name of the Lord.